Cities Use New Technology For Property Tax Assesments

The city of Philadelphia is just one of hundreds of cities that now have the power to instantly survey any property in the city -- thanks to new software that gives tax assessors the power to search low-altitude aerial photos of properties by street address. The new technology, while not cheap, often pays for itself -- by allowing the city to see changes to properties, and easily contest petitions for assessment reductions.

"Pictometry's software [one of three vendors offering the new technology] makes it possible for assessors not only to see buildings, but also to measure them, down to the hundredth of a foot. But trying to zoom in on people’s faces causes the photos to dissolve into pixels. "It's not at the resolution where you can look in windows, or read license plates," said Kenneth M. Wilkinson, the property assessor of Lee County in Florida. "The system preserves privacy.""

Thanks to Matt Baumann